Edward Johnson
1601
Edward Johnson was an English composer. Johnson’s compositions were highly regarded in his time, but few of them survive.
Adapted from the Wikipedia article on Edward Johnson (composer).
From the period sources
Edward Johnson was among the notable musicians who contributed to “The Triumphs of Oriana,” a collection of madrigals published by Morley in London in 1601 (A General History of the Science and Practice of Music, Vol. 2, 1875). This collection, dedicated to the Earl of Nottingham, was reportedly commissioned by the Lord High Admiral as a prize-subject to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s beauty and accomplishments, possibly to alleviate her distress following the execution of the Earl of Essex in the same year. Johnson’s specific contribution to this work was the madrigal “Come, blessed bird,” as noted in Grove’s Dictionary (1889). He also harmonized tunes for Thomas Este’s “The Whole Booke of Psalms” in 1592, a collection reissued in 1594 and 1604 (Dictionary of Music, 1896). Furthermore, a litany in a 1560 collection of offices with musical notes, published by John Day, lists “M. Johnson” among its composers, and a subsequent collection from 1565 again includes “Johnson” among the musicians (A General History of the Science and Practice of Music, Vol. 2, 1875). Another madrigal by Johnson, “Ah, silly John,” is preserved in the manuscripts of the Sacred Harmonic Society Library in London (Grove’s Dictionary, 1889).